Susquehanna Grad Wins Emmy Award

Published on October 10, 2013

Craig Housenick, a 1998 graduate of Susquehanna University, was awarded a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in a ceremony on Sept. 15 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

“Any way you describe it feels like a cliché,” said Housenick. “It feels really amazing. I can’t believe I have it sitting in my house.”

Led by lighting designer Oscar Dominguez and lighting director Daniel K. Boland, Housenick’s team won the award for Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for their work on a variety series on NBC’s “The Voice.”

As media server operator, Housenick uses video to create the program’s striking visual displays. “I work with the content in all of the video surfaces, as well as some elements of the lighting rig,” he explains. “The best example of what I do is the performance of Maroon 5’s ‘Love Somebody.’ That was achieved entirely with one projector and a video server, even the part in the beginning that looks like a classic [spotlight].”

The Los Angeles-based lighting designer/director, who has worked on television shows including “The Taste” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” encourages industry hopefuls to take advantage of the practical experience Susquehanna offers.

“Susquehanna gave me the ability to be really hands-on with all our technical facilities within the theater,” he says. “There is no finer educator than experience, and being part of such an intimate program gave me lots of opportunities to be creative and find my creative voice. My advice for other students would be to grab hold of all the opportunities and really flex your creative muscles. The single most important thing you can do is hone in on your visual style and take every chance you can, no matter how badly you crash and burn.”